Pirates Week 30th anniversary

Pirates Week is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, with festival organisers promising a bigger and better event than ever before, said a press release.

According to organisers, the 11-day festival – which runs from Thursday, 8 to Sunday, 18 November – will include more decorations, an augmented fireworks show, a 40-piece marching band from Jamaica, the Red Bull parachute team, a pre-Pirates Week awards banquet, a new cardboard boat race, a new dominoes tournament, hundreds of give-aways, and more entertainment downtown prior to the landing pageant.

Pirates Week executive director, Dave Martins, said there is great excitement being generated in the various committees of the festival, and that the private sector support has been strong in the commitment to mark the 30th anniversary.

‘We have a number of exciting things happening this year, and we’re fired up to get going,’ Mr. Martins said. ‘But, we have to credit the corporate support and also the enthusiasm from the Ministry of Tourism to make this 30th year a stand-out event.’

The festival line-up begins with the VIBE Kick-off Party at the Wharf on Thursday 8 November, with live music, copious give-aways, a ‘pirate invasion’, and fireworks on the beach.

The festival’s 34-event line-up includes the Festival Queen competition, the pirate costume competition, the songfest, fireworks show, landing pageant, float parade, six street dances, six district days, an underwater treasure hunt, two teen dances, a kids fun day, two road races, two swimming competitions, a darts contest, and, new this year, a dominoes tournament.

Music for the six street dances – starting Friday, 9 November – will be supplied by six local bands along with the visiting Imij & Co from Trinidad, who will be joined by Byron Lee vocalist Oscar B on the closing Saturday.

A new event this year is the cardboard boat race with boats made only of cardboard and duct tape, propelled only by paddles or sails. It takes place on the final Saturday, 17 November, at 4pm at Hog Sty Bay. Boats will leave from the beach, circle the little rock, and return.

The downtown entertainment, prior to the landing Pageant on Saturday, 10 November, will feature the St. Jude’s Marching Band from Jamaica, a kids’ quadrille group, an acrobatic juggler, a Dance Unlimited piece, and a surprise performance to be announced later.

An addition to this year’s festival will be an advance awards banquet on Saturday 3 November, honouring 30 persons who have made outstanding and ongoing contributions to the festival over its 30 years.